Photo by Nick Reid
HUMAN POWER CRUSHES ALL
Update from the Race Boss
June 8 2021
The people cheered, the vessels jockeyed for position in light breezes, and everyone hummed along to the traditional Race Start song: Госудáрственный гимн Росси́йской Федерáции. And then it was on like Donkey Kong–360 miles of hopes, dreams, devastating failure, and exultant triumph. 153 racers crossed the line and began the first-ever WA360.
What happened next? Sailing backward in tide rips at Marrowstone Point. 18 tacks to solve the problem of a windless PT cut. Paddling through eelgrass in 18 inches of water in Kilisut Channel. Racers made every choice imaginable, including Team Interstice banging a quick right just before Foulweather Bluff and charging solo into the unknown reaches of Hood Canal. What’s the plan there? Some crazy solution to the riddle of WA360?
But here’s the headline: HUMAN POWER CRUSHES ALL. That’s right. With something like a thousand feet of bicycle chain powering pedal drives all over the course, it’s the folks with oars and paddles ahead of them all. Bend Racing leads the pack with Wave Forager close behind. Oh, did I mention that Wave Forager just took second place in SEVENTY48 THREE DAYS AGO?
Next year we’ll vet teams with a blood test to ensure they are human beings and not some kind of monster created in a lab.
24 Hour Fact Sheet
• 150 Media boat miles
• 55 Teams at the start
• 155 Crew on boats at the start
• 1 DNF (Turn Point Design)
• 1 DNS (Sockeye Voyages)
• 482 Minutes for the first team to travel ~84 nautical miles and round the Olympia Shoal (BendRacing)
• 64 Minutes for the first race team to run aground (Barely Heumann)
• 3 Minutes underway until Team Try Baby Tri went ashore to return his rental car
• 24 Hours that human-powered teams have held 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place (in 24 hours)